Bristol City 2 Newcastle United 2

WHEN then Hull City boss Phil Brown grabbed a microphone on the final afternoon of last season and belted out the lyrics to This Is The Best Trip, it couldn’t have been harder to bear for the Toon Army as some of the football world danced on their Premier League grave.

WHEN then Hull City boss Phil Brown grabbed a microphone on the final afternoon of last season and belted out the lyrics to This Is The Best Trip, it couldn’t have been harder to bear for the Toon Army as some of the football world danced on their Premier League grave.

However, as the United faithful gave their own rendition of the terrace anthem while watching their side pulverise Bristol City in the second half, it showed that the Geordie public have almost come full circle.

Almost 10 months on after that fateful day last May, Brown is out of work, Hull are heading for the Championship and Newcastle are all but certain to take their place next season as we prepare to line up for another season of Premier League football.

Indeed as over 2,000 Newcastle fans rejoiced at Ashton Gate after watching their side almost prise victory from the jaws of defeat, their feelings were clear and, as the song goes, they didn’t “want to go home”.

Yes, for Newcastle fans you can add Bristol to the list of happy memories from the Magpies’ second tier tour – I mean come on, a pitch invasion at the mere prospect of grabbing a point against Bristol blinking City, it was just sheer pandemonium, but hell didn’t we enjoy it?

Going back to that day at Villa Park last May, a toothless display by United suggested that some players were incapable of fighting sleep, let alone getting something out of a game when even a draw would have kept them up.

Even though the opening of the encounter with Bristol City was night and day compared to the resounding victory over Scunthorpe United, you just knew even at 2-0 down that it was far from over.

Fears of a defeat and potential late season collapse were quickly allayed by a sterling fightback that epitomised the team spirit of a set of Newcastle players who are again proud to be pulling on a Toon shirt.

At 2-0 down with the rain lashing in their faces and luck not going United’s way? we’ve witnessed enough such capitulations on away days to last us a lifetime.

There are too many to remember and it’s too painful to reel any of them off.

But, as had already been pointed out this season, this is a different Newcastle side now.

Gone are the petty spats in the dressing room and the arguments over who is earning the most money.

Gone are the host of Prima Donnas that used to batter any kind of team spirit within the Newcastle locker room and make the team almost unmanageable.

And, for now, gone too are the long trips to some of football’s outposts to endure a pasting at the hands of some of the lesser lights.

United’s table-topping stars are hellbent on reclaiming a place back in the top flight and prove they can still do a job in the Premier League.

Anybody who doubts they can’t should try telling it too their faces, and the response you’ll get in return is just one of the reasons why this set of players are fiercely proud of the camaraderie and fighting qualities they’ve built up.

And if Newcastle are enjoying the plush facilities of the Emirates and Old Trafford next season, rather than the modest backdrop of the second tier, it will be because they’ve earned it – not just because they find themselves in a such a poor division.

As for the match, Bristol came out of the blocks quicker than the Mags but were still handed a slice of luck when they were wrongly awarded the free-kick which resulted in the opening goal.

Then, after going at Newcastle like the majority of teams have lacked the courage to do so this season, they managed to double their lead when Nicky Maynard scored one of the best goals against United this season with a wonderful curling strike.

But if the first half belonged to Bristol then the second half was all about the black and whites.

Even if it took until the 71st minute to get back into the contest.

The tide turned at the start of the second half as Newcastle refused to give City an inch with the rain lashing down.

Home keeper Dean Gerken had played a blinder at Newcastle back in October with a string of saves and a clean sheet he will never forget.

His luck ran out in the final quarter of this one though.

Gerken’s show of charity with just 19 minutes to go was the turning point of the match when he attempted to bowl the ball out to Cole Skuse.

Instead, he could only find Jonas Gutierrez, who showed no mercy before rounding him and slotting home.

After that it was like the Alamo.

Four minutes later, United went level after Wayne Routledge’s cross was converted by top scorer Andy Carroll for his 15th of the campaign.

And then there was only one team that were going to win it.

Leon Best, Jonas again and Carroll could all have secured three points.

Given the circumstances, however, a point and an energetic uncompromising performance going into the trip to Doncaster Rovers were more than acceptable on a day that threatened to deliver nothing but a good soaking for all concerned in black and white.

Look at the maths and you’ll see that Newcastle can still be caught by Nottingham Forest or West Brom.

Look at the togetherness and battling spirit in the camp and it’ll tell you they can’t.

Ryder’s verdict United just don’t know when they are beaten at the moment.